Abstract: A method for operating a communication system which is subject to fading and interference includes an arrangement at a user terminal andor a gateway for determining the received signal strength. If the received signal strength is low, a fade is declared. The received signal quality is also determined, as for example by determining the bit error rate of the signal. If the signal quality is deemed to be poor and faded, the poor signal quality is deemed to be attributable to the fade, and the coding gain of the path is increased, as for example by increasing the bearer rate without increasing the information rate. If the signal quality is deemed to be poor in the absence of fading, the poor signal quality is deemed to be due to interference. If interference is found in this way, the carrier channel is changed, as for example by changing slot allocation in a TDMA system or channel frequency in an FDMA system, without change in the coding gain.